


Stimbiotic

by zeddpool



Category: Marvel, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Autistic Character, Autistic Eddie Brock, Gen, Meant to be Symbrock but can be read as Gen, Other, Stimbiote, symbrock, they/them pronouns for venom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 16:39:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17145308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zeddpool/pseuds/zeddpool
Summary: Venom has noticed that Eddie is...different from other humans, and not just because of them.Eddie is Autistic and feels really awkward about how that affects his relationship with Venom.





	Stimbiotic

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas ya filthy animals! I’ve been working on this literally since the movie came out, and I really wanted it done by the holidays. Based on my experiences as an Autistic person and my interpretation of the movie.

Having Venom was, in its own funny, slightly fucked up way, the best thing that ever happened to Eddie. Sure, it took awhile for them to get their relationship into something resembling working order, and the symbiote called him a loser on the regular, but it was nice having someone who wouldn’t leave because he couldn’t communicate properly.

Ironic as it was for a reporter, Eddie had always had a hard time expressing his thoughts and feelings, and most relationships had ended because of miscommunication or him “not showing affection”, i.e. not giving them the kind of affection they wanted. Anne had been different, she’d understood and accepted that Eddie’s brain worked a little differently, and his “I love you” looked different as a result. But in the end, he had gravely overestimated what Anne’s “trust” meant, and after six months and one averted apocalypse, he no longer felt any regret about the loss of their relationship. A little guilt, maybe, but no anger, remorse, hate. If he was being honest, he’s kind-of happy things turned out this way. Anne is happy, and she and Dan are his friends. He’s glad.

He does feel guilty about lying to them, though. Venom is alive and well and Dan, the sweetheart, is planning a memorial because he _doesn’t know_. Steeling his resolve, Eddie hits send on his “we need to talk” text to Anne, and finally, _finally_ , falls asleep.

* * *

**Venom had noticed a few things about their new host. From the first day they were together, they picked up on certain anomalies, odd, flyaway thoughts in Eddie that they still couldn’t make sense of. When Eddie had gone to Anne in the ‘restaurant’ (the place with alive food), the rational part of Eddie that was no longer in control but they could still hear had seemed very upset by what Venom was doing, and the word “meltdown” floated into their awareness. There was also the word “cronch” when Venom (finally!) took a bite out of alive food.**

**There were other things, memories of a smaller version of their host that resurfaced at the beginning when Venom would insult him.**

**Eddie’s apartment was confusing too, some aspects of it meticulously neat, controlled, while others were complete chaos.**

**Eddie used a notepad to take notes on things, even though the symbiote had seen the other reporters all using their ‘phones’ to do the same thing.**

**Eddie’s laptop was strange as well. It had something covering it, Eddie had once supplied ‘case’ when they asked, which was oddly textured, but clearly intended to be so, and Eddie would often start running his hands across it when his stress levels were too high.**

**Most noticeably, Eddie would invariably think “samefood” whenever Venom asked for tater-tots.**

**Eddie was strange, in a way that other humans didn’t seem to be. It didn’t matter though. Strange or not, Eddie was theirs.**

* * *

Eddie woke up sometime after noon, to his phone informing him that Anne had texted back. 

“I’d love to Eddie

Meet us at Buena Vista

Lunch on the Haight

1:15”

Realizing just how close to _now_ that was, he scrambled to get ready and out the door, his symbiote taking the helm to get them there on time.

Once he spotted Anne and Dr. Dan on the steps he did a quick check to make sure Venom was out of sight for the time being and walked up to them as casually as he could.

“Eddie! It’s great to see you!” Anne got up and held out her arms to signal she wanted a hug, and Eddie was happy to oblige. Dan was more cautious, as was Eddie, but the doctor gave him a friendly, “How’ve you been buddy!” and offered his hand.

Eddie stared at it. “I’m doing good, Dan, thanks. Really good. I don’t really like to shake hands.”

Dr. Dan mouthed a quiet ‘oh’ and awkwardly lowered his arm. Anne, sensing the tension that had built up, interjected,

“Why don’t we go get some lunch and talk? You said we should talk, and I’m starving!”

“Ah...um. About that. I think talking should come before lunch. It’s gonna be harder than usual to find a place I can eat at.”

Anne, brilliant Anne, who had had her suspicions, just grinned as realization dawned on her. Eddie smiled back. Dan looked lost.

“I’m sorry to interrupt whatever inside joke you two are sharing right now, but what do you mean? Why are you both grinning?”

Inky black tendrils snaked down Eddie’s arm, pooling in his palm and shaping itself into a small blob with Venom peering out of it.

**“Hello Dr. Dan.”** the symbiote practically purred, revelling in the dumbfounded look on the man’s face.

“...You know what? I think lunch first would be a good idea.”

* * *

Lunch went rather smoothly, all things considered. Dan was less offended when Eddie explained the handshake thing ("I didn't think we'd ever interact again so establishing boundaries wasn't a priority when we first met."). Eddie even managed to get Venom to agree to some vegetables, on the promise that they’d go to Ghirardelli when Eddie got his first paycheck. It was nice to have a job again, and not only because he now had the means to spoil his symbiote.

As they were leaving, though, Anne cornered Eddie while Dan paid the bill.

“How is it?”

“How is what???” Eddie was genuinely confused now.

“Sorry, I know that’s not a clear question. How have you been, sensory-wise? How does Venom fit into that? Is it better? Worse? How do they...effect you?”

Eddie paused. 

“I...I haven’t really thought about it. I’ve not really noticed, with everything that’s happened... Loud is just as bad as High now, I guess. I don’t know, can I get back to you on that?”

“Of course, Eddie! Take as much time as you need! And for the millionth time-“ she slowly placed her hand over where his hands were stuffed in his hoodie pocket. “-you don’t have to hide your hands. No ‘quiet hands’ necessary. Don’t be embarrassed about your stims.”

* * *

**Fuck it. Venom’s curiosity was piqued now. That conversation with Anne just sealed the deal. As soon as they got back home, they said,**

**“Eddie. We need to talk.”**

“About?”

**“You.”**

“Thank you for the helpful clarification, dickhead.”

**Frustrated, Venom maneuvered Eddie onto the sofa. Satisfied that he would stay put without Venom’s... guidance, they released Eddie and manifested their face over Eddie’s shoulder.**

“Goddamnit, you know I hate it when you do that!”

**“What, the face? I thought humans liked seeing who they’re talking to?”**

“No, the whole puppeting thing! And, yeah, kinda, the face is weird too, eye contact isn’t really my thing. But that’s not the point! What is so important that you need to fuckin’ warg into my body like that?!”

**“You are an anomaly, Eddie, and I am curious.”**

Eddie sighed.

“Go ahead.”

**“I have many questions, but I will start with this: Why was Anne so concerned about my effect on your senses?”**

Eddie was silent for a while, trying to figure out exactly what to say, if he should at all, after all, Venom might think he's defective and leave for a host who isn't "broken", and damn that thought hurts more than it ought to, but now's not the time because Venom is still waiting for an answer.

"I'm Autistic, V."

**"Which means?"**

"Ah...right. You're an alien, of course you have no idea what that means. Well! Do you....hm. Fuck it, d’you want the scientific, basic, or simplified explanation?"

**"Whichever one works."**

“Okay...my brain works differently than most people-“

**“I have noticed this.”**

“...Great. I’ll spare you the gritty details, but the term for my particular... _difference_ is Autism, and it affects the way I think, feel, behave, etc. In my case, I have sensory processing issues that make me sensitive to sound, touch, light, etc. Sometimes it all gets too much and I get sensory overload, and if it’s really bad I-“

**“Meltdown. I remember you thinking it at the ‘restaurant’.”**

“Yeah, that. Anyway, I can counteract it somewhat through sensory stimulation, aka ‘stimming’. I prefer tactile stims, like-“

**“Your ‘case’ for your computer.”**

“Exactly. I also like to chew on things. I've ruined many a pencil that way, so Anne bought me this necklace," he pulls the worn pendant out from under his collar, "to chew on instead. It helps, but it's harder than I'd like, to be honest. I'd rather something like...!" Eddie cut himself off abruptly, realizing how what he was going to say might have sounded.

**Venom tilted their... head? face? to one side, about to ask what Eddie was going to say when their host began again.**

"Ha!... Uh, never-mind. Anyway, I also have trouble understanding social cues, which is kind of why I haven't been much help when you ask about human behaviour and everything."

**"You do seem just as confused as I am."**

"Yeah, pretty much. Anyway, that's about it, in my case. Any questions?"

**"For now? No."**

"Alright then!"

* * *

**The conversation, as far as Eddie knew, ended there. Venom, however, did have questions, most of them variations of the same thing: _What was Eddie going to say before he stopped himself?_**

**Eddie himself was unlikely to answer that, for obvious reasons, so Venom took to borrowing Eddie's laptop as he slept. As new as they were to this planet, Venom was a fast learner, and Google wasn't difficult to figure out. Venom took it upon themself to learn as much as they could about 'Autism' and the aspects they recognised in their host. They searched every strange word they could remember Eddie saying, eventually reaching 'stimming' a few days later.**

**It wasn't until they got to 'stim videos' that they remembered why they started their little research project. They clicked on a video titled "Black Slime Stim 10 Minutes" and were struck by an immediate sense of familiarity. The goop that the person was stretching, rolling, and kneading had an uncanny resemblance to...them.**

**They tried to recall exactly what Eddie had been saying before he trailed off.**

_'I also like to chew on things. I've ruined many a pencil that way, so Anne bought me this necklace to chew on instead. It helps, but it's harder than I'd like, to be honest. I'd rather something like...'_

**'Something like what?' Venom wondered. They searched up 'chew stim' and found row after row of 'stim toys' for sale, most of them similar to Eddie's necklace.**

**'But he said that necklace was too hard, so that would mean he likes to chew on soft things, and the only thing softer than that on here is.. the... slime...'**

**Realisation dawned. Eddie wanted to chew on _them_.**

**Oh. Well. That would certainly explain his hesitance at that time.**

**Well.**

* * *

Venom had been quiet the past few days. Well, not _completely_ , they still teased him and called him a pussy on the regular, but there was still this...silence from them. Eddie felt it more than heard it, like Venom was holding back, they wanted to say something but just...wouldn’t. Frankly, it was starting to worry him. So much so that he found it harder and harder to focus on his work, and by the end of the day on Friday, as soon as they got in the door of their shitty little apartment, he finally caved.

“Fuck! What is it, V???”

Silence...

“Please, V, you’re scaring me, what’s wrong?”

**“...You want to chew on me, Eddie.”**

Fuck. It wasn’t a question, he knew that much, and denying it would just make the situation worse. So...

“Shit. I’m really sorry, Ven, I...I’ll stop thinking about it, I’m so sorry, please, just don’t...”

_‘Don’t leave’_ went unsaid, was just left hanging in the tense quiet between them. Eddie felt like he was going to cry, _‘Damn it, Brock, you messed it up **again** , you fucking it idiot, you finally had a good thing going for you and you fucked that up as well...’_ 

**“I’m not going to leave. I don’t mind. I’ve been trying to figure out why you didn’t want me to know, but I cannot find an answer.”**

Eddie stilled, tears stopping on the verge of spilling over, and slowly, so slowly, lowered himself onto the couch, not trusting his legs to keep him upright, considering how much his knees felt like Jell-O at the present moment.

“Because!” He nearly choked trying to get the word out, “because I...Wouldn’t it...Damn it! Wouldn’t it hurt you! Who would stay with a partner who wants to hurt them?! And besides that, it’s weird, its...wrong...”

**“I do not feel pain the way your species does, Eddie. You cannot hurt me that way. And I know that your base desire is not to hurt me, merely ‘stim’. I don’t mind. There is nothing wrong with you. Or us.”**

“God, when you put it like that I feel like an idiot...”

**“You are an idiot, Eddie, but not about this.”**

The human couldn’t help but laugh, devolving into a fit of giggles on the sofa, unshed tears from earlier finally trickling down flushed cheeks.

**“Eddie. Eddie, I do not understand your reaction! Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong?! Eddie, explain!”**

“Nothings wrong *hic* you *hic* dork!” Eddie managed between hiccups.

**“Then why are you crying?!?!?!”**

Eddie took a moment to calm his hiccups before responding.

“Because I’m happy, dumbass!”

**“...Humans are weird.”**

“Hell yeah they are.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write more, but that felt like the perfect place to end it.


End file.
